The Rolling Stones: Rarities 1971-2003

So following those other cultural revolutionaries Bob Dylan, Ray Charles and, erm, Alanis Morissette, The Rolling Stones have got into bed with Starbucks. It’d be nice to think that, in giving them these utterly inessential scraps that these ex-poster boys for ’60s rebellion were, in some small way, sticking it to The Man, but sadly Sir Mick probably truly believes that a bed-hopping zillionaire can legitimately claim to have ‘the blues’ (on ’89’s ‘Fancy Man’), and that there are people out there who’ll be aroused by an oversexed 60-year-old gyrating his way through ‘I Just Wanna Make Love To You’. Other than your mum, obviously.

Of course, this being the best rock’n’roll band ever, there are moments of quality. ‘Miss You’ reminds us that, in the late ’70s, the Stones were masters at lounge lizard disco, while, even in a live version from 1997, ‘Wild Horses’ still tugs at the heartstrings. But really, unless you own everything else the Stones have ever even thought about releasing, there are far, far better ways of spending your cash. And much more ethical ones, too.

Hamish MacBain

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